Gelcoat repair update

[Hydro Therapy]

I recently made some repairs to my toe rails. I think one of the previous owners played bumper boat on more than one occasion.

I ground the spider cracks with a dremel and filled with 3m premium filler and a little bit of Bondo cream. I used Brite white finishing gelcoat. My boat is more of an off white so I added 2 drops of brown tinting agent to every 2 ounces of gelcoat. I thinned the gelcoat with acetone, approximately 10 percent. I shot it with a cheap Harbor Freight touch up gun.

The gelcoat laid nicely, little orange peel. I only shot one toe rail. I eventually need to do all of them. I think the gelcoat was a decent match. It will blend better once I wet sand.

 

[Hydro Therapy]

The above pic is a section showing the filler work. The 2nd pic is the same area after shooting the gelcoat. It still needs to be wet sanded but looks acceptable as is.

 

[Ward H]

That looks pretty good! Nicely done.

 

[Joe11688]

I think that it came out pretty decent. I've never had good results with Gelcoat.

 

[Hydro Therapy]

Thanks, I prefer using gelcoat. Paint looks great but it's not as dorible as gelcoat. At least not in my opinion.

 

[Brian S]

Dear Spooled Again -

Please come over to PA and fix my boat! I have beers. Or cookies. Whatever you want!

Where did you get your color matched gelcoat? I need to call Rudy at D&R and see if they have any pint cans of paste pre-colored for some chips. But I also have a fair amount of spider cracks that really need to be done...

Thanks,
Brian

 

[Hydro Therapy]

I mixed it myself. You probably won't get an exact match. A close match is good, over time it will blend.

My mixture was 2 drops of brown tinting agent to every 2 ounces of Brite white finishing gelcoat. Finishing gelcoat or wax in gelcoat dries without assistance. Plain gelcoat remains tacky unless you put wax paper over the repair or spray a wax like substance ( forget what it is called.

I could help u out but u would have to bring it to me. I have a kegerator in the kitchen.

 

[bellnier]

This is good info. Thanks for posting

 

[Brian S]

I have heard that one way to approximate a match with gelcoat is to take samples to a paint store. They can scan it with their spectrophotometer, and give you the formula they would use to tint the paint. They will probably use a 6 color process, rather than just 4 colors (red, blue, yellow, black) but if you use their formula with a 4 color mix, you can get pretty close.

I think I will try removing my fuel locker cover, and taking it to the paint store. That way, they can measure the creme color and the grey of the non-skid...

Brian

 

[cbourne200]

I think the 'wax' used with gelcoat is called 'Mold release Agent' or something similar. Tried to use this and gelcoat on a transom hung rudder several years ago, and had no GOOD luck with it at all... Wound up sanding it off and painting it...

 

[Hydro Therapy]

Filling areas with gelcoat can be tough. You can thicken the gelcoat by adding talc powder. If its a small vertical area I add talc, mix and apply. Then I place wax paper over the fresh gelcoat. The talc and wax paper keep it from running. The wax paper will peel off easily once dry.

It's easier to use a good above/below water line filler. Sand level once dry and apply gelcoat over top.